Aeroplane.



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`AEROPLANEl APPLICATION HLED- JUNE 15, 1916.

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WMA/wma" www@ J. IH. L A. E. ROBERTSON.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15. |916.

LQWMU. Patented Feb.26,1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I. H. 6r A. E. ROBERTSON.

I AEROPLANE. APPLICATION FILED 1UNEI5| 1916-l Patented IFeb. 26, 1918..

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

JOHN 1r. ROBERTSON, or roNTrAo,

annorLanE.

Application led J une 15, 1916.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, J oHN-l-l. ROBERTSON and ALBERT 1E. ROBERTSON,"citizens of the United States ofMAfmerica, residing at Fontiac andWalled Lake, in the -county of, Oakland and State of Michigam'haveinvented certain newA and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes, of whichthe following is aspeciication, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of heavier-thanairdying machines known as aeroplanes and its Object is to so arrange thesustaining, stabilizing, altitude, and steering planes as to insurestability and ease of manipulation, and fur-r ther, to so arrangetheseplanes and propelling mechanism therefor as to give the maximumspeed and so that the propellers may l be employed to assist indirecting the movements of the craft and add to its stability. lt isalso an object of the invention to provide a novel arrangement ofaltitude planes and means for operating the same, and further, toprovide certain other new and useful features in the construction,arrangement .and combination of parts, all as hereinafter more` fullydescribed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which-Figure 1 is a plan view of a machinev em` bodying the invention, withportions broken away and in section to show the construction;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a front end elevation;

Figs. 4 and a are detail views showing controlling mechanism, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail of change speed power transmittingmechanism.

As shown in the drawings, 1 is the main fixed sustaining plane whichextends longitudinally of the machine and is curved transverselythroughout itslength. rllhis main plane is of much greater length thanwidth so'that while it has a large sustaining area its advancing edge iscomparatively short and the forward edge portion of said plane.

may be curvedA upward slightly, as shown at 2. Depending from the mainplane is a suitable framework comprising posts 3 converging downwardlyfrom the plane and connected by a chassis l having ground wheels 5 ateach' end and carrying intermediateits ends, a suitable motor 6. FromSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb.. 26, wir,

Serial No. 103,872,

the motor a shaft 7 extends forwardly in the longitudinal center line ofthe chassis, said shaft being an extension of the crank shaft of themotor to turn at the same speed as said crank shaft, and is provided atits extreme forward end directly beneath'the forward end of the mainplane, with a propeller wheel 8.

Forming a rearward extension of the crankl case of the motor is atransmission casing 9 having change speed power transmitting gearstherein arranged in any7 suitable manner to transmit motion from theengine crank shaft to a shaft l0 extending rearwardly in thelongitudinal center line of the chassis to the rear end thereof wherelit is provided with a propeller 11 which is of lesserdiameter or hasblades of lesser length than the blades of the forward propeller 8. Thetransmission gearing may be v of any suitable construction, but as shownin Fig. 6, it is preferably of the sliding gear type having two speedchanges which step up the speed from the speed of the engine shaftinstead of down, as in the ordinary construction. The speed of thewrearpropeller may therefore be increased at will beyond engine speed andbeyond the speed of the forward propeller so that the edect of the rearpropeller which is working in the air current set up by Ithe forwardpropeller may be eHective when desired. When motion is being transmittedto the rear propeller directly from the engine by means of the clutch12, said'propeller, by reason of working in the air current set up bythe forward propeller and also because 'of the rear propeller being oflesser area, will be less effective than the forward propeller and willsimply serve to steady and assist in guiding themachine. Preferably,when second speed is employed by bringing the gears '13 and 14 intomesh, the rear propeller will be speeded up` just suficiently to bringits efficiency up to that of the forward propeller, and when third speedis used by' bringing the gears 15 and 16 into mesh, the rear propellerwill be most effective and will operate to assist in certainmanipulations of the machine under certain conditions. If founddesirable, the transmission mechanism may be provided with'reversinggears (not shown) to effect a reversal of motion of the rear propeller.

Pivotally attached tothe rear end of the main frame, is a rearwardlyextending rudder 17 which may be operated in any desired manner, as bylines 18 running forward to the drivers seat to direct the machine tothe rightor left in its forward course.`

'Altitude planes -19 and 20, and 21 and 22 are arranged in pairs at thesides of the chassis and each of these planes is secured to a horizontalshaft 23' mounted in bearings upon the chassis and extending laterallytherefrom. Each plane extends forwardly and rearwardly an equal distancefrom its shaft and turns therewith about the horizontal axis of itsshaft, suitable bracing cables 24 running from the corners of each planeover vertical struts 25 projecting laterally from the shaft serving tobrace and strengthen each plane. The two planes at each side of themachine are connected to turn simultaneously in the same direction, bymeans of cables 26 secured to the upper and lower ends of the strutsabove and below the planes. The shafts 23 for the two planes 1,9 and 20are free to turn independently of the shafts carrying the planes 21 and22 at the opposite side of the machine so that the pairs of planes areadjustable independently to provide for banking the machine upon turns,that is to balance or maintain the equilibrium of the machine whenguided to the right or left in turning, the manipulated planes offeringan increased resistance at one side of the machine which tends to -right1t and prevent skidding or sidewise movement.

A hand wheel 27 is provided adjacent the drivers seat 28 and thiswheelis secured upon a steering post 29 having a suitable geared connectionindicated at- 30 with a cross shaft -31 mounted in suitable bearings onthe chassis or a downward extension of the frame indicated at=`32. Oneof the gears of the geared connection 30 is formed with a clutch member,33 to be engaged by a clutch member. |34 .which is slidable longt'etudinally upon and operatively connected to a sleeve 35 /on the shaft bya key or spline 36 on,l the sleeve. Arms 37 at one end of the shaft 31extend laterally therefrom in oppositedirections parallel with the plane19 above to which they are connected by cables 38 or the like, andsimilar arms 39 on the sleeve are connected by cables 40, rods or thelike to the plane 21 above. When the clutch member 34 is engaged withthe mem'- ber 33, the sleeve 35 is connected to the shaft 31 to turntherewith and as the pair of planes 21 and 22at one side are connectedto the sleeve and the pair of planes 19 and 2O at the other side areconnected to the shaft 31, all of said planes are controlled andoperated simultaneously by the hand wheel which is geared to the shaft.

1f it is desirable to operate the pair of planes 1.9 and 20 only, theclutch 34 is remember 41 is loosely mounted to turn freely j upon thesleeve and adapted to be connected to the sleeve to turn therewith, bythe clutch member 34 when said member is shifted out of engagement withthe member 33 and into engagement with said member 41. clutch member 41is provided with a laterally extending arm 42 which is connected in any'suitable manner as by rods 43 and bell crank 44 with a hand lever 45having a latch and sector 46 for holding the lever in any position towhich it may be adjusted. The planes 21 and 22 may thus be operated bythehand lever 45 independently of the planes 19 and 20 or locked in theposition to which they are adjusted while the other planes are beingoperated by the hand wheel. A fork 47 is provided to shift the clutchmember 34 and this fork is turned by means of a floot pedal 48 andsuitable connections 49 between said pedal and fork.

By this arrangement of propellers at the front and rear ends of the mainplane, which propellers may be driven at different speeds, a highvelocity of travel may be secured, and the arrangement of altitudeplanes and manner of operating the saine obviates danger of skidding andmaintains the equilibrium of the machine under all conditions. i

Obviously changes may be made in the construction and arrangement ofparts and particularly in the manner of operating the altitude planeswithout departing from the spirit of the invention, and we do nottherefore limit ourselves to the construction and arrangement shown.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a self-propelled air craft, the combination with a singlelongitudinally extending main sustaining plane, a propeller foreffecting a forward movement of said plane and beneath said plane, apair of altitude planes at each side of the vertical plane of thelongitudinal center line of said main plane, said altitude planes beingtiltable -about horizontal axes, and means for tilting said pairs ofaltitude planes independently of each other.

2. In a self-propelled air craft, the combination with a singlelongitudinally extend ing main sustaining plane, a propeller foreffecting a forward movement of said plane, a pair of altitude planes ateach side of the vertical plane of the longitudinal center line of saidmain plane and beneath said plane, the planes of each pair beingconnected to turn together in the same direc- The Lamme tion abouthorizontal axes and means for turning said pairs of planes independentlyof each other.

3. ln a self-propelled air craft, the combination with a singlelongitudinally extendmain sustaining plane, a propeller for 1n egectinga forward movement of said plane, a pair of altitude planes at each sideof the vertical plane of the longitudinal center line of said main planeand beneath said plane, the planes of each pair beingconnected to turntogether in the same direction about horizontal axes, and means forturning all of said planes simultaneously in the same directionLor forturning thepairs of planes independentl 4. l[n a -self-propelle aircraft, the combination with a single longitudinally extending mainsustainingplane, a propeller/for eecting a forward movement of saidplane, a pair of altitude planes at each side of the vertical plane ofthe longitudinal center line of said main plane and beneath said plane,the planes of each pair being connected to turn simultaneously in thesame direction about horizontal axes, and means for turnin each pair ofplanes independentl of the ot er pair, and clutch mechanism orconnecting the turning means foreach pair of planes to effect thesimultaneous movement of all of the planes.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN H. ROBERTSON.

, ALBERT E. RBERTSON. Witnesses:

L'nwrs E. FLANDERS, ANNA M. Donn.

